JUSTIFIED

 
April 20, 2022                                                      JUSTIFIED
Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered up because of our transgression, and was raised up because of our justification.”
Today, we do not often hear messages and sermons dealing with justification; yet, justification is a key element of the gospel. If we do not understand what it means for us to be justified before God, we will live with a wrong view of who we are as believers. Obviously, the subject of justification is a deep and broad; perhaps we can ‘scratch the surface’ a bit in this brief blog. I read an article on line (could not find the authors name) and found the following definition of justification. “(1) The act by which God moves a willing person from the state of sin to the state of grace. (2) The change in a person’s condition moving from a state of sin to a state of righteousness, or (3) the act of acquittal whereby God gives contrite sinners the status of the righteousness.” Jesus paid the price for our sin; now God sees us as righteous because the sin issue has once and for all been dealt with; we have been acquitted before God.  We may see our sin and conclude that we are not righteous; the idea of being justified before God even though we sin seems contradictory. Yet-that is the case. We are not justified by our works; it is the grace of God that justifies us. One could come to a wrong conclusion and say that since God see us as justified and righteous, it does not matter that we sin. That view would be far from the truth. Because we are justified and have been made righteous in His sight, we are to walk in righteousness and justification and to make no provision for the flesh. Believers can and do sin but they do so by choice; when a believer sins, he is to confess it as sin and turn from it. The subject of justification is not just for the seminary class room or for theological discussion; it has very practical application for believers. How we view our standing before God is crucial; we are not sinners who must relate to God from a distance and we need not fear God. We are sons and daughters of God who have been made clean-and have been justified-and have been acquitted from all sin; our relationship with our Father has been restored. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross dealt with the sin issue, and gave us direct access to God. Let us live with the correct understanding of who we are as children of God and let us live and conduct ourselves according to who we are in Christ.
Colossians 2:13-14 “And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Blessings,
Buddy